Amazon lobbying Biden administration to make cannabis legal
The company said that a law change would make hiring staff easier
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Amazon is pushing for cannabis to be federally legalized, the online commerce giant has announced.
In a statement released on Tuesday morning, the company said:
“Given our previous support for legalizing cannabis at the federal level, as well as expunging certain criminal records and investing in impacted businesses and communities, Amazon recently announced our support for, and began actively lobbying on, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2021 (MORE Act).”
The company said that part of the reason for its lobbying effort was to make hiring easier, reports Business Insider.
“We’ve found that eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis allows us to expand our applicant pool,” Amazon senior VP of human resources Beth Galetti said.
Amazon initially announced its support for federal cannabis legalization in June, when its Worldwide Consumer CEO Dave Clark said the company would no longer screen potential employees for cannabis use.
“In the past, like many employers, we’ve disqualified people from working at Amazon if they tested positive for marijuana use,” Mr Clark said at the time. “However, given where state laws are moving across the US, we’ve changed course.”
The majority of Amazon’s vast workforce – 950,000 employees in the US and 1.3 million people around the world – is made up of warehouse employees. This group of staffers have a notoriously high turnover rate of around 150%, according to a New York Times report, leading to some Amazon executives worrying the company could run out of hirable Americans.
Business Insider reported that Amazon has already spent at least $5 million on lobbying efforts.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments